1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioning apparatus, and more particularly to a heat changer unit of an air conditioning apparatus including a dehumidifying function.
2. Description of the Related Art
An air conditioning apparatus including a dehumidifying function can be categorized into two types based on the dehumidifying method, that is, a cooling type and a non-cooling type.
The cooling dehumidification type air conditioning apparatus performs dehumidification by cooling an exterior air making contact with an evaporator to a temperature below a dew point and liquefying moisture contained in the exterior air. In the cooling dehumidification type, the exterior air is discharged into an interior of a room in the cooled state so that temperature of the interior of the room cannot be constantly maintained. Further, since the moisture cannot be liquefied in a case in which the temperature difference between the evaporator and the interior of the room is not large, dehumidification cannot be performed. Furthermore, since the evaporator should maintain a cooled state at the temperature below the dew point of the exterior air, excessive energy should be used, thereby increasing the maintenance cost. For those reasons, the non-cooling dehumidifying method is used which does not cool the exterior air.
A general air conditioning apparatus of the non-cooling dehumidification type includes a desiccant unit for removing moisture from the introduced exterior air, a heater unit for removing the moisture from the desiccant unit and drying and reproducing the desiccant unit, a fan motor unit for blowing the reproduction air heated by the heater unit to the desiccant unit, and a heat exchanger unit for allowing the reproduction air of a high temperature and a high humidity, which has passed through the desiccant unit, to exchange heat with the exterior air.
As shown in FIG. 1, the heat exchanger unit includes a first heat exchanger 10 and a second heat exchanger 20.
A first introduction opening 12 through which the reproduction air of a high temperature and a high humidity, which has passed through the desiccant unit, is provided at an upper end portion of the first heat exchanger 10 and a first discharge opening 14 through which the reproduction air introduced through the introduction opening 12 is discharged is provided at a corner portion of one side of a lower end portion thereof.
A second introduction opening 22 connected to the first discharge opening 14 is provided at a corner portion on one side of a lower end portion of the second heat exchanger 20 and a second discharge opening 24 through which the reproduction air introduced through the second introduction opening 22 is provided at a corner portion of the other side of an upper end portion thereof.
On the other hand, a plurality of interior passages are formed in the interiors of the first and second heat exchangers 10 and 20, respectively, and slits S through which the exterior air passes are formed between the interior passages.
The efficiency of the heat exchanger unit having the above-mentioned structure depends on flow uniformity of the reproduction air in the first and second heat exchangers 10 and 20 and the paths along which the reproduction air passes through the first and second heat exchangers 10 and 20. In other words, as the flow uniformity of the reproduction air becomes higher and the path of the reproduction air becomes longer, the heat exchange efficiency is improved further. For the reason, the first discharge opening 14 and the second introduction opening 22 are located at corner portions on sides of lower end portions of the first and second heat exchangers 10 and 20, and the second discharge opening 24 is located at a corner portion on the other side of an upper end portion of the second heat exchanger.
According to the structure of the introduction openings 12 and 22 and the discharge openings 14 and 24, the flow path of the reproduction air can be lengthened but the flow amount of the reproduction air decreases excessively at a corner portion on the other side of a lower end portion of the first heat exchanger 10 and at a corner portion on the other side of a lower end portion and a corner portion on one side of an upper end portion of the second heat exchanger 20. The heat exchange efficiency of the heat exchanger unit lowers due to the decreased flow uniformity. If the heat exchange efficiency drops, the devaporizing efficiency by which the reproduction air removes the moisture from the desiccant unit also lowers, thereby decreasing the dehumidifying efficiency of the air conditioning apparatus.